Poole v. Veterans Auto Sales and Leasing Co., Inc.

• Court: Florida Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: GRIMES
• Citation: Poole v. Veterans Auto Sales and Leasing Co., Inc., 668 So.2d 189 (Fla. 1996)
• Decision Date: 15 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 85232,85232
• Parties: 21 Fla. L. Weekly S69 Jenny POOLE, etc., Petitioner, v. VETERANS AUTO SALES AND LEASING COMPANY, INC., Respondent.

Page 189

668 So.2d 189

21 Fla. L. Weekly S69

Jenny POOLE, etc., Petitioner, v. VETERANS AUTO SALES AND LEASING COMPANY, INC., Respondent.

No. 85232.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Feb. 15, 1996.

Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal--Certified Great Public Importance, Fifth District--Case No. 93-1839 (Seminole County).

Michael S. Herring, Sanford, for Petitioner.

David C. Beers, Maitland, for Respondent.

GRIMES, Chief Justice.

We have for review Veterans Auto Sales & Leasing Co. v. Poole, 649 So.2d 264 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), wherein the district court of appeal certified the following question to be of great public importance:

If section 768.74 permits a trial judge to order a new trial unless the affected party agrees to accept a remittitur or additur when a reasonable person could agree that the record supports the jury decision (assuming no trial error or jury misconduct), does this section violate article I, section 22, Constitution of the State of Florida?

Id. at 267, 269. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution, but we decline to answer the question as worded.

Rebecca Ann Pritchard was killed in a motorcycle accident involving an automobile titled in the name of Veterans Auto Sales and Leasing, Inc. (Veterans). Jenny Poole, personal representative of Pritchard's estate, brought a wrongful death action against Veterans on behalf of the decedent's three minor children: John Thayer, Sara Pritchard, and Andrew Pritchard, ages 14, 10 and 9 at the time of the trial. The decedent's children resided out of state with their respective fathers and had not resided with their mother for any significant period of time.

The jury's total award was $98,042.76, favoring Veterans' argument that an award of $100,000 would be appropriate, rather than the personal representative's suggestion of $1.1 million. The award included $15,067.76 to the estate for medical and funeral expenses. The jury awarded $2,000 to Sara and $2,200 to Andrew for past and future loss of support and services and $30,000 each for past and future loss of parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for pain and suffering. The jury awarded John $20,000 for past and future loss of parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for pain and suffering.

Poole moved for additur and, alternatively, for a new trial. Poole specifically requested the trial court to add $10,599.52 to the award for medical and funeral expenses, asserting that the jury had improperly deducted this amount based on a credit in that amount that had been applied to decedent's hospital bill because the decedent's organs were removed for the use of others. Poole also requested that the trial court increase the award for loss of past and future support for Sara Pritchard by approximately $16,500 and for Andrew by approximately $20,000 and that the award for past and future loss of parental companionship, instruction and guidance and for pain and suffering be increased for Andrew by $100,000, for Sara by $125,000, and for John by $72,000.

The trial court granted Poole's motion, awarded the requested increase of $10,599.52 for decedent's medical expenses, and increased Sara's and Andrew's awards for future support by $200 each because the jury improperly calculated the number of years remaining until Sara and Andrew turned eighteen. The trial court also increased Sara's and Andrew's awards for pain and suffering by $60,000 each and increased John's award for pain and suffering by $40,000. The order granted Veterans the option of a new trial on the issue of damages if it disagreed with the additur. Veterans refused the additur, and the trial court issued an order granting a new trial. Veterans appealed the order for new trial to the Fifth District Court of Appeal.

The district court of appeal held that the trial court correctly granted additur for the $10,599 in medical expenses and for the requested increase in future support for Andrew and Sara Pritchard but reversed the additur for pain and suffering. The district court analyzed the pain and suffering award in light of the factors set forth in section 768.74, Florida Statutes (1993), which provides for remittitur or additur in cases where a verdict is rendered awarding money damages to a plaintiff. Based on the limited contact the children had with the decedent, the jury's ability to observe the children's demeanor at trial, and the arguments of counsel regarding the value to be placed on the...